Not convinced by damage caused in accident

t00tsieroll

Quentin wrote: »

You are bound by your policy to inform your insurer of all incidents you are involved in whether or not a claim is involved, so yes, you should contact your insurer and inform them about this.

Pass on any corespondence you get unanswered to your insurer to deal with.

Don't offer cash to settle this unless you know what you are doing, and don't admit liability, just leave it to your insurers to sort out.

After the matter is concluded you can reimburse your insurer the costs they have incurred over the incient to retain your NCB, assuming that is why you don't want your insurer involved.

Thanks Quentin. Reimbursing the insurer seems like the best option. How can I not admit liability when I'm the one who hit him? (No obvious damage to site of direct impact on either car though). Let's just hope I get an understanding person on the other end of the phone tomorrow when I call my insurer!

Quentin

t00tsieroll wrote: »

How can I not admit liability when I'm the one who hit him?

Easy. If asked to admit liability by the third party on the phone, simply say "You know I can't do that. Let the insurance companies deal with it", and refuse to comment further. If you get any letters holding you liable, just pass them on unanswered to your insurance company to deal with.

Don't worry about speaking to your insurers about it - they won't tell you off!

Quentin

t00tsieroll wrote: »

Reimbursing the insurer seems like the best option.

I'd wait and find out how much is involved - if there is a new bumper and respraying the rear involved it could be much more than you would want to pay out!

Money_Grabber13579

Unfortunately, insurance fraudsters are so good at their job, it's sometimes hard to tell when a claim is genuine or not! For all we know, the accident could have been staged!

Although, that is very hard to prove, and again, it's probably more than likely you're going to have to pay out everything they ask for.

Rallydriver

I would have been one for paying up for minor damage without involving the insurance company before (I've never been a driver in an accident) but in the last 6-7 years personal injury has exploded so I'd never recommend chancing it now. Put it all to the insurance.

The best thing you can do if you are involved in an incident is to record as much information as you can.

Most people have cameras in their mobile phones, so take photos of the vehicles, damage to vehicles or anything else, other drivers and passengers, the scene generally, any skid marks, damage to the road which could have contributed, signage, the view as you approached the scene, the view as any others appraoched the scene.

Record thoroughly what happened in your own words, back it up with diagrams if you can. Get names and contact info of any witnesses. If you can, get the names of anybody who could have a claim against you and if possible get the driver of any other vehicle to sign something purely stating facts that aren't in dispute such as their names, car make model and registration, date, time and location of incident.

Basically, the more you can get the more your insurance company have to work with and defend false claims.

Whatever you do, DON'T admit liability yourself. Usually your insurance policy will tell you not to admit liability but to leave it to them to do that. So even if it seems cut & dried you were at fault, never admit liability yourself.

The only better way to protect yourself would be to install a camera system that saves to flash memory. There are a few on the market and some insurers will discount on cars fitted with them.
They have other benefits too as demonstrated by this youtube vid:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E66BDZ0PShM

slummymummyof3

A few years ago, my OH was overtaking 2 vehicles - a car which was trailing behind a lorry. The car driver (an inexperienced young girl) also decided to overtake the lorry and only looked in her mirrors and not over her right shoulder - OH was in her 'blind spot', she manovered out and my OH had to veer towards the grass verge in order to avoid a collision. Wing mirrors made contact but that was all (there were two tiny scratches to passenger side wing mirror on our car)

The girl, it transpired, was driving a courtesy car (having been provided one by her insurance company as she had been in another accident the week before) At the scene of the accident she admitted liability, on getting home, she obviously spoke to her parents (dad was a driving instructor and knew every dirty trick in the book!!!) and during telephone conversation with my OH then tried to blame him and retracted her admission of liability - as did her insurance, as she told them that my OH had 'drifted in to her' - OH refused to accept liability.

Her courtesy car went back to the supplying body workshop who then tried to claim for a replacement wing and 1/2 a litre of paint etc, headlight etc etc. We had to demand that an assessor came and looked at our car because there was no possibility that the damage the garage was inferring had occured to their courtesy car, could possibly have happened during this incident - with our car only having 2 superficial scratches to passenger side wing mirror.

It took about 3 months as our insurance co wanted us to accept 50/50 responsibility but when they finally came and looked at our car, it was firmly established that the garage were trying to pull a fast one and put in a fraudulent claim (or possibly the girly had had additional bumps since receiving courtesy car) Eventually her insurance company admitted full liability but we really had to fight for it!

t00tsieroll

Thanks Rallydriver. Fortunately I did take a couple of photos of his car, and the ends of the bumper which he claimed had come loose from the collision (looks more like wear and tear to be honest). Also exchanged details. There were 3 guys in the car. To be fair, the driver and one of his mates did ask if I was OK. The impact was less than what you would get at the dodgems. Still doesn't take away the fact that there was a collision *shrug*. It was a Y reg Corsa - I don't know what the costs of putting in a new bumper will be, but hopefully not too much.

Really appreciate all of you who have given me such helpful advice.

Inactive

t00tsieroll wrote: »

My car went into the back of a Y reg today.

Read " I drove carelessly in to the back of a Y reg today ".

plane_boy2000

Do you have the reg of his car? you may find that a Y reg corsa is worth so little its a write off anyway. Try somewhere like webuyanycar.com to get a rough trade value for his car.

3 in the car ......clasic terms for a whiplash claim I'm afraid (they could all claim)

Jakg

Maybe the guys worried you'll offer £50, he'll get the car checked out and find it'll cost more than that and so he's out of pocket for something that wasn't his fault?

If insurance get involved everything will be fixed and he wont be out of pocket at all - THATS why he's reluctant to accept cash.